Working-Class Heroine?

What Sarah Palin brings to the Republican ticket looks, at first glance, to be almost entirely an identity-politics appeal to the very constituencies that John McCain needs to win. She’s a woman -- who in her remarks at the ceremony announcing her pick singled out Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton and Clinton’s 18 million supporters for praise. She and her husband have not only working-class roots but, in her husband’s case, a working-class job: He’s a member of the Steelworkers. As well, she’s a movement conservative, which surely won’t hurt McCain’s efforts to turn out his base.

The McCain camp plainly picked Palin because they understand this election will be determined by white working class men and women upset by the state of the economy and uncertain about Barack Obama. But Palin’s point of connection with those voters is demographic rather than programmatic. She may celebrate those cracks in the glass ceiling, but she offered no words of condemnation when Supreme Court conservatives, in their Ledbetter ruling, decreed that women could not sue for back-pay discrimination. She may extol her working-class roots, but she’s on a ticket that wants to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich and opposes Obama’s middle-class tax cuts.

But, with the Obama campaign now zeroing in on working class concerns with Obama’s speech last night, it’s clear why McCain picked Palin. A McCain-Romney ticket would have been a plutocratic sitting duck. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has a working-class pedigree, but he’s not female. Enter, stage right, Sarah Palin.

But boy, is this ever a roll of the dice. McCain is the oldest nominee in American political history, and he’s a cancer survivor to boot. Sarah Palin, who 20 months ago was the mayor of a 9,000-person Alaskan town, now has to convince the country that she’s ready to become president. That’s one tall order, and nothing she said in her debut before the world suggests that she is.

The VP is the undercard. McCain figures she brings (or potentially brings) advantages to the ticket, and the experience issue is really between him and Obama.

As for people's perception of her, that's not based on years in office, but how they carry themselves. Democrats forget that Dan Quayle was the dean of the Indiana Congressional delegation at the time of his nomination and was in his fifth Congressional term (having served since 1976.) He had plenty of "experience" from the standpoint of electoral politics to justify his selection; it was him that was the problem, not years in office. Conversely, if Palin presents well, the Dems won't get anywhere with attacking her on experience. (Biden would just (1) ratify GOP criticism of Obama; and (2) heighten his own insider status who has failed to "change Washington" despite being there for almost 40 years (noone considers Biden a "reformer" or "maverick".)

I think the pick shows more about the meager options for VP available to McCain and his need to make a splash with the pick. ("Rob Portman who?")

It's a big gamble, but this is very likely his last campaign anyway, so he might as well leave it all one the field.

(A final element in her favor might be that her son is deploying to Iraq--as McCain's already did--immunizing the GOP from claims of callousness in war policy.)

"She may celebrate those cracks in the glass ceiling, but she offered no words of condemnation when Supreme Court conservatives, in their Ledbetter ruling, decreed that women could not sue for back-pay discrimination."

Exactly. She's exactly the right sort of candidate to appeal to moderates who recognize the need for social progress but reject the left-wing civil rights and feminist policy package. You know, the people who are going to decide this election.

Anyone who's upset about the Ledbetter decision (which, by the way, said nothing like what the author suggests) was going to vote for Obama anyway.

Well all I've seen so far is she has knocked Obama and the Democrat convention off the front page, completely taken the spotlight away and the air out of the Democrat sail. McCain wins on so many fronts with this pick. He shows he still is a maverick, his main appeal to indepedents. He shows he can fight Obama's "change" slogan with a real change as compared to Obama's pick. He solidifies his base with her record on abortion. He reaches out for the blue collar votes. He will steal half of Clinton's dissatisfied woman supporters, and that's nine million votes in the bank. As for the inexperience risk. An Alaska governor for two years still has two years of executive experience more than the junior senator from Illinois.

If Obama had picked Hillary, then McCain's choice would be seen as me too. But Obama made the same mistake Hillary made in the primaries. Hillary tried too hard to maintain her chance in the general election before winning the nomination. Obama wants to preserve his chance of governing without the Clintons' interference before winning the election.

Yeah the Democrats may have blown it this year. McCain just seals the deal.

"Exactly. She's exactly the right sort of candidate to appeal to moderates who recognize the need for social progress but reject the left-wing civil rights and feminist policy package. You know, the people who are going to decide this election."

Social progress? She's a wingnut, she's way, way out there -- she resides in an insulated political Nuttyland. And there's that little matter of, you know, scandal about her?

What a disaster in the making, a true lightweight and unprepared for the job in every way. Bu-bye, Bugsy McGoo!

Palin's drawbacks will be relative inexperience-- McCain can't make hay out of Obama's experience without calling hers into question (is she READY to be President?)-- and no national profile, which should correct itself quickly.

She's a staunch conservative. If women only care about voting for a woman, she might sway some of the vote; if women care about voting for their issues, Palin won't help much.

Agreed that Romney and Pawlenty were written off after the how-many-houses debacle but don't see how Palin helps balance the equation here.

Typical classless liberal pundit. Contrast the nasty and petty response of loser like Meyerson to the measured and respectful response to Biden (see David Brooks's piece in which he declared thee choice of Biden "good for America".)

Sorry that hateful partisans like Meyerson can't believe that a woman could be chosen for her policies and experience. What a misogynist.

Meyerson - you darn hypocrite. Your party, the Dems, LIVE for identity politics. It's got to be galling for you to be had by the Republicans. Female, blue collar husband (part Eskimo),five kids, a background of ethical leadership. Inexperienced in Foreign Policy - as compared to who - Obama? Your team is going to have a tough fight this year. Guys like me who were going to probably sit this one out now realize that this is a real election. Meyerson - remember this the day before the election - this is just like baseball - no matter how big the Dems "lead" might be now - you have to keep throwing the ball over the plate, and the Republicans have strengths and means to come from behind. Man, this is going to be a great fall election season. r/ Historian

John McCain is a very fluid concept.
1970: war hero
1980: ditched first wife for a younger, prettier model from a wealthy family with suspect connections
1990: keating scandal thief
2000: whitewashed reformer making his power grap
2008: Does John McCain even know who he is?

No only is he not self-aware, but he doesn't know who his party is. The men who don't have a problem with this pick are committed democrats. Northern and West Coast democrats at that.

A reckless and stupid crap shoot of a pick that will cost him Virginia, No Carolina, Georgia and Florida. But he'll get Alaska's 3 votes, and he'll get to hangout with as young and hot a babe as he could hope for. Wow.

Typical classless liberal pundit. Contrast the nasty and petty response of loser like Meyerson to the measured and respectful response to Biden (see David Brooks's piece in which he declared thee choice of Biden "good for America".)

Sorry that hateful partisans like Meyerson can't believe that a woman could be chosen for her policies and experience. What a misogynist.

Posted by: rmorrow | August 29, 2008 2:24 PM

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So you have to be a mysogynist to criticize Palin?

I'm female and think McCain made a bad choice. If he was going to pick a female, there are plenty of more experienced and better qualified Republican women out there he could have chosen.

"If Obama had picked Hillary, then McCain's choice would be seen as me too. But Obama made the same mistake Hillary made in the primaries. Hillary tried too hard to maintain her chance in the general election before winning the nomination. Obama wants to preserve his chance of governing without the Clintons' interference before winning the election."

No this pick is still a "me too". What this says to me is "...see the GOP wants change too...". They went out and got a woman why? In hopes that Clinton backing women supporters would see this as a hope to still vote a woman into the White House. In terms of knocking Obama of the front page wasn't anyone McCain selected going to do that? Whether it was Romney, Palin, or anyone else. I will concede the fact that people are probably talking more about this pick than any other, but why sacrifice a campaign for a day or two of buzz?

I wonder why McCain didn't go with Libby Dole (experience and well liked), or Condi Rice (HUGE foreign affairs experience and possibly would make some Blacks and women think twice) or even Colin Powell (great guy, experienced, and someone most people respect and/or like). I don't know anything about Gov. Palin other than the fact that her political experience is in one of the least populated states in the union and she's a staunch Republican. All I know is McCain can no longer make the argument of Obama's "lack of experience" without shining the light brightly on his Veep. I'm no political analyst but this looks desperate to me.

It’s just rich to read Meyerson’s accusation of McCain playing identity politics from an author who speciously claimed that Republican charges of Obama's presumptuousness was code word for "uppity," itself a crass appeal to identity politics.

Libby Dole - Establishment figure. Not enough "change" element in her. McCain at heart is a maverick. He moves right and sucks up to Bush just to survive in the Republican party. Any one with a brain knows that. Hell even the Clintons can't make it as centrists in the supposedly tolerant progressive party. A centrist McCain does not stand a chance in the Elephant party were not for the fact Bush stinks up the conservative cause big time.

Condi - Surely you joke. Condi = Bush.

Powell - Would have been the nominee himself but probably ruined his reputation for good with that UN speech.

Gary, Yes Gov. Palin is kind of hot (especially for a politician), but I cannot vote with my johnson for the POTUS or the Vice POTUS. If this were a beauty contest she wins no question, but since this is leader of the free world we are talking about here, I think we have to dig a little deeper. Gary, I'm guessing you are a GOP kind of guy, but to say that Obama speech was "extremely poor" is like saying McCain is a very young guy. Let's not kid ourselves, give credit were credit is due. Even Pat Buchanan praised Obama's speech. I promise you if McCain comes with a better original speech (i.e. not a rehash of Obama's). I will be the first to come out and say McCain nailed Obama. But let's be honest, Obama took it to McCain last night.

A brilliant gamble by McCain. Personally I though he would go with Bobby Jindal if he wanted to roll the dice, but going with a woman was probably a better bet (Just didnt know who she was prior to this). She lines up well with McCain on ethics reform, and agrees with him on earmarks (less than a billion dollars annually, but it sounds good in speeches). In a bonus to having less experience than Obama, she has no record to attack (Obama has a small one, but still has stuff there), and personal attacks will bounce off her due to her extraordinary personal story. On the downside for McCain, this rips the age issue wide open, since it will be borderline impossible for him to argue that Palin is more ready to be president than Obama (The "executive experience" argument overlooks the fact that McCain doesnt have any either. Both he and Obama are legislators). Still, this is a great move for McCain, and certainly will take Obama by suprise.

Not really, I guess it's really slim pickings for the GOP Veep spot this year :-). I mention those three as examples of more established GOP figures. But as pointed out earlier, that's not what McCain was going for. Other than the "hotness factor" that Gary mentions, I'm just not sure what Palin is bringing to the table. Hopefully that question will get answered over then next few months. Or at least it better, if McCain still really wants to be the Prez.

Face it, unless you're brain dead you long decided who you were voting for in November. All this chattering is meaningless.

If you're voting for Obama, you look at Palin and think it's laughable that McCain chose somebody with virtually zero substantive political experience, who admitted just a few months ago she didn't even know what the VP did. If you're voting for McCain, you love her stance on the issues and see strengths in her that you would ridicule if they were in a Democrat. Whatever.

Also, not only is this pick certainly evidence of slim pickings among the GOP for VP (almost all GOP women politicos of "stature" are pro-choice), it's likely also a sign of McCain believing he needs to take significant risks to beat Obama. (Obama's speech last night could only heightened that concern.)

So Palin's choice is also a sign of the strength of Obama's challenge.

Palin has a degree in journalism and was able to run a state with abundant natural resources and a tiny population. That hardly qualifies her as “experienced.” That’s like thinking the CEO of a 20 person start-up can run a Fortune 500 company. Alaska is the boondocks of politics and her qualifications wouldn’t even allow her to be mayor of a major city like LA, Chicago or New York.

Palin looks great on paper but her experience in the backwaters of the country are nothing compared to negotiating politics in a place like Chicago.

Let's see. Change Palin to Obama and "he" to she". Would the progressives ("radical left") be using the same words if they were talking about their candidate who wants to be President with no learning curve time? Palin is running a large corporation ( State of Alaska )which is alot harder than sitting on the board of directors ( US Senate ) and just voting and leaving. When Palin talks about reform she does it. When Obama talks about reform, for example, on public campaign financing, he flip flops because it is not to his benefit. She is more a "man" of "his" word than Obama.

>> That’s like thinking the CEO of a 20 person start-up can run a Fortune 500 company.

Unless that 20 person start up happens to be Microsoft. More to the point, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. What makes you think a community organizer can run Walmart, let alone the United States. Besides Palin right now is picked to be more like VP for Corporate Communication, not CEO.

There are more cracks in McCain's logic than there are in the glass ceiling. It is ludicrous for Republicans to express their great love and admiration for Hillary Clinton.

Aside from the fact that Obama has actually achieved more in the Senate than John "I got the lobbyists and money out of politics" McCain. Obama's campaign has more staff and more budget than Palin's gubernatorial office. He's been running it longer than she's been Governor.

You're comparing Alaska to Microsoft? That's hilarious. Alaska has 2 million people FEWER than Chicago, ONE city in Illinois. To state that Palin's credentials are comparable to Obama's show how ignorant many of you wrong-wingers are.

Alaska is the boonies. The Mayor of any major city has more leadership credentials than Palin. And navigating Chicago politics is light-years ahead of what happens in a backwater like Alaska.

Barack Obama is a well educated, former Harvard Law Review editor, consitutional law professor, state senator, US senator. He is thoughtful, articulate, eloquent and visionary with proven good judgement on national security issues and has helped enact national legislation relating to ethics reform, veterans care etc. His choice of Joe Biden as VP shows that he takes our country's problems seriously.

Ms. Palin is a former fisherwoman, hockey mom, mayor of a hamlet (9,000) and governor for less than 2 years of a state ranked 48th in population in the union (700,000) And she's one heartbeat away from being the leader of the free world?

Apparently the maverick is a moron. Anyone who thinks that's sane decision making needs a checkup from the neck up.

Does everyone who supports the "working class" have to be a Marxist? Get government out of everyone's pockets, including us "working hicks from the sticks". I don't want governments help, nor yours......

Anyone in their right mind would rather live in Alaska than the Obama Slums that continued their decline under The Messiah.

Posted by: James King is an Asshat | August 29, 2008 5:06 PM
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Well if we’ve learned anything with this selection we’ve discovered just how desperate John McCain and the Republican Party really is. And just how bad his judgment is. As a female African-American attorney I’d just like to say that its an insult to pick a woman just because she’s a woman. You’ve got to bring something to the table. Being the part-time mayor of a village doesn’t count, nor does being governor of densely populated Alaska. Moreover, I resent the exploitation of her special needs child. Many American’s whether pro-choice or pro-life make the painstaking decision to knowingly bring special needs children into the world; there’s nothing extraordinary or unique about that at all. But it and her gender should not & can not be the only reasons why Palin’s getting a ticket to the big party. Even the most cynical republican can see that this is a desperado move. BARACK’S GOT YOU GUYS RUNNING SCARED!!!

A curious pick by McCain. The biggest downside: someone with no experience or special knowledge of international affairs and defense policy would be put one 72-year old's heartbeat away from the Presidency. That should give even devout Republicans reason to wonder whether McCain's will to win by playing the identity-politics card has caused him to forget his country. Just imagine: McCain blows his top and has a heart-attack a month after taking office and the country is to be led by a person with no knowledge or preparation to qualify her for the job.

As for Obama, apart from being as intelligent and knowledgeable a person as has ever run for President, he now has four years experience as a major player on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And whatever one may think of Biden, he is an experienced hand whose readiness to take over, if need be, is questioned by no one.

Well if we’ve learned anything with this selection we’ve discovered just how desperate John McCain and the Republican Party really is. And just how bad his judgment is. As a female African-American attorney I’d just like to say that its an insult to pick a woman just because she’s a woman. You’ve got to bring something to the table. Being the part-time mayor of a village doesn’t count, nor does being governor of densely populated Alaska. Moreover, I resent the exploitation of her special needs child. Many American’s whether pro-choice or pro-life make the painstaking decision to knowingly bring special needs children into the world; there’s nothing extraordinary or unique about that at all. But it and her gender should not & can not be the only reasons why Palin’s getting a ticket to the big party. Even the most cynical republican can see that this is a desperado move. BARACK’S GOT YOU GUYS RUNNING SCARED!!!

Well if we’ve learned anything with this selection we’ve discovered just how desperate John McCain and the Republican Party really is. And just how bad his judgment is. As a female African-American attorney I’d just like to say that its an insult to pick a woman just because she’s a woman. You’ve got to bring something to the table. Being the part-time mayor of a village doesn’t count, nor does being governor of densely populated Alaska. Moreover, I resent the exploitation of her special needs child. Many American’s whether pro-choice or pro-life make the painstaking decision to knowingly bring special needs children into the world; there’s nothing extraordinary or unique about that at all. But it and her gender should not & can not be the only reasons why Palin’s getting a ticket to the big party. Even the most cynical republican can see that this is a desperado move. BARACK’S GOT YOU GUYS RUNNING SCARED!!!

To MOswingvoter - What I'm saying is that the mayor of ANY major city has more leadership credentials than Palin. Barack had to establish himself in a political climate that completely dwarfs anything in Alaska.

My mother who voted for Hillary in the primary thinks the Palin pick is "insulting." It's blatant pandering and Hillary voters like my mother see right through it. In fact, she thinks it looks like he's promoting a hot young secretary over the less attractive but harder working woman who deserved the job.

"The biggest downside: someone with no experience or special knowledge of international affairs and defense policy would be put one 72-year old's heartbeat away from the Presidency. - Posted by Thurgle"

How so true! Contrast that with Obama who has "special knowledge of international affairs", having visited Pakisthan on a vacation when he was in high school, and just recently a European tour. And I am sure his basket ball play taught his soem "defense" policy.

No she's governor of a state that has less people than many American cities who gets subsidies from Big Oil to keep her books balanced. She was able to be a "maverick" because she didn't have to worry about banrupting her state using tax cuts because she has a Big Oil safety net.

It's 3 AM and the phone rings, VP Palin picks up the phone and hears, thump thump, thump thump, thump and then silence. This is a very serious political choice, given McCain's age, his paternal history of father and grandfather dying at young ages and his history of melanoma. What away to put country first.

McCain let the polls make his choice, it shows a deep selfishness. I vehemently reject him now.

P.S. I wonder if John knows she supported Romney? And didn't like Hillary's whining. I bet he didn't given that he has only met her once.

Governor Palin seems like a sincere and hardworking person, and she will no doubt appeal to some voters. But I am frightened that someone with so little experience-- less than 2 years as Alaska's governor and mayoral and city council experience in a very small town-- could be second in line for the presidency. Yes, this does have a Jimmy Stewart-like story line (Ms. Smith, anyone?), but this is real life, not the movies.

Professional woman commenting here. I will never vote solely on the basis of gender. Governor Palin has had a heartening career, but when you come right down to it... she is not qualified for the role into which she has been thrust.

The Steel Workers Union won't be supporting McCain and for good reason as he follows Bush's trade policies and export of jobs overseas. Obama knows the suffering of those displaced by this from his work as a community organizer in Chicago between college and law school in an area that used to be one of the biggest steel producing areas in the country.

The country is in for a rude awakening if you sell Sara Palin short. She more than the other three is reform minded. When the country knows her like Alaskans do they will wonder why she isn't the top pick. She gets things done and doesn't look at a poll to decide whats right or wrong

Who was Meyerson listening to today? What does he have to hear that would convince him someone is ready to be President?

I guess a blue collar, union household, homemaker woman isn't up to the job? BUT.. a black lawyer who used drugs, attended a rascist church, socialized with terrorists, got money for a radical cleric IS?

How are raising taxes on the rich going to help, most of the "rich" have already earned their money and it's no longer taxable. If by rich you mean small business owners who file as individals you are only taxing someone who will have to raise prices to pay the taxes. In other words, the middle class pays, as always. The same thing when you tax any business who sells a product or service. The only people who you could tax who provide no service or product to the people are the politicans. Take the millions from the members of congress and the senate, they all got it by screwing the American people.

The experience question didn’t work for HRC, and it wouldn’t have worked for McCain either. Romney didn’t connect with anyone in the primaries, and the far right in the Repub base (I am not one of them) wouldn’t gel with Romney either. McCain has to roll the dice to win anyway, so why not go all the way? If you take some time to read up on what she’s done, I’d say that underestimating her would be a mistake, just like HRC did with Barry. The bigger joke is Barry’s tax cut for “95% of Americans”, in which he is of course including those who don’t make enough to pay any taxes. If he wins, all the Barry lemmings (especially the middle class ones) will be whining in two years when they realize has has raised taxes on everyone to embrace the socialist ideals of his man Hugo Chavez. I also think it’s interesting that Barry hammers McCain about the disenfranchised, when tax records reveal that McCain gave away 26% of his 2007 income to charities, and Barry only 6%.

While Meyerson extols the nuances of an obscure SCOTUS ruling, in true Beltway fashion, this woman is real.

She actually ran a small business, which employs most Americans.

She actually considered an abortion in her life (how little we know of Michelle, or, more so, Obama's Mom).

She actually RAN (not "organized") something. And I bet she knows how to get along on a little less that $4.2 million a year, eh?

The liberal schlock is sad. She knows where her food comes from. Where gas comes from.

She can probably fire a gun, catch a fish, drive an ATV, breastfeed, diaper, shop at Walmart, live from paycheck to paycheck, nurture, cuddle, command, complement, complement, fill out an evening gown, has worn overalls at some point in her life, do math, find the engine on her own vehicle, change a tire, and run three governments.

I guess that just scares the crap out of the Limousine Liberals.

Already, the Leftist tongues are wagging about her Walmart clothes or hubby not having a degree.

Like most of America.

Oh, she has two years more experience as a state Chief Executive than the zero executive time of Obama and 29 less eons in wonkish, gridlock Senate maneuvers than Biden.

It's hilarious to see the doubletalk of desperate Democrats.

McCain dropped a 2,000 lb High Explosive Enema down your smokestack, rolled out, and flipped you the bird while you were attending the Invesco Nuremberg rally, worshipping The One.

I'm surprised the conservative family groups are OK with Palin as VP. Aren't they generally opposed to working mothers? How do they feel about her having young kids, especially a 6-month-old special-needs baby? I'm sure she'd have plenty of help with child care, but I'm interested to hear how those conservative groups justify this pick in light of how hostile they are to women who have families and take high-powered jobs.

Palin will be weak with white males in the south. They characteristically hate weak tickets where people are picked for superficial reasons -- Palin fits that profile. It gives every reason to hope that DEmocrats can win a national sweeping victory to throw out the Republicans from the white house.

Quite bewildering and disturbing. I hope all the Hilary C. supporters see though this farce. His attempt only to get their votes on election day. Nothing more. He actually believes he's more intelligent than the rest of the country! What arrogance, ignorance..proves he's selfish and power hungry.

I am all for the stance that gender has zero bearing as to one's competence to lead. Successful woman have proven that.

Forget your party affliation, whose a woman or man, if their skin is black or white, who is more competent help heal and address our bleak foreign affairs issues, and work on our economy?

What happens if he keels the hell over??? Did anyone think of that? He's 72 with a history of cancer. She's a fisherwoman, with 5 kids and to bat, she's only been Governor of Alaska for 20 months. 20 months....

What happens if he keels over??? Give thought...is it more important that we break the glass ceiling or continue on this road of distruction?

Most of the comments here go to show that Democrats and their media handlers look at Republicans merely as curiosities, if not through the lens of anthropology.

You guys really don't understand Republican politics, do you? Would the Wash Post send someone to cover a baseball game who does not understand the rules of baseball? (Um... don't answer that question.)

Then why do Demos comment with such misguided sense of authority on Repubs? You are missing the point.

By choosing Gov. Palin, McCain just knocked the cover off the ball to energise his Republican base. Hard-core Repubs from coast to coast (including the coast of the Arctic Ocean) will be working their butts off to elect the Mc/P ticket. And that's the only way that McCain has a chance against the Obama-Media steamroller.

Really, the Democrat heirarchy annointed Obama, and the media gave him a free pass for most of the primary campaign. Now he's just coasting to victory on the media-Hollywood love-wave.

So the only way that the Repubs can win is to change the game and go nuclear with their base.

A religious, working-class, gun-owning, reformist, executive-level woman? Obama can just plain kiss goodbye the bitter, bible-thumping, gun-toting working class voters of Pennsylvania and the like.

To Arctic Fox - If you think Obama has been given a free pass by the media, I have a bridge I want to sell you... IN ALASKA.

The coverage of Obama has been deem almost 70% NEGATIVE. More of it but worse.

As for energizing his base, I think most Dems see that... they just think it's stupid at the expense of having someone QUALIFIED. Vlad Putin would chew up Palin and spit her out as would many of the world's leaders. She's out of her league.

She raised taxes on the oil companies, gave a tax cut to the working class, gave a $1200 rebate to working people to help them with energy cost, turned down earmarks(the bridge to nowwhere) isn't a millionare and her husband is a union member, plus she's a women. No wonder the Democrats hate her.

You're an Obama-man, right? Good Democrat? Rooting for your champ, eh? Maybe you voted Republican once or twice in your life, down the ticket, for some guy you knew from high school or something. But you ain't got no cred on this point, dude.

What media do you watch? The ABC-CBS-NBC and NYT-LAT-WaPo and NPR-CNN-MSNBC, etc. gave Obama a totally free ride. He was walking on water.

It wasn't until conservative talk radio ripped into the Ayers-Wright-Rezko issues that the Mainstreamers began to look at Obama -- and after he secured enough votes to eke out an overall victory in the primary... against a wounded and usually broke Clinton.

Still, Hillary's rout of Obama in the likes of PA & WV ought to give you a clue as to Obama's big challenge in the general election. A lot of working class white people (bitter, bible-thumping, laid-off, xenophobic working class white people) see right through Mr. O and his empty rhetoric.

And don't discount energising the base. It's election day that counts, and the base makes election day happen... or not.

If McCain doesn't win enough electoral votes on Nov 4, it really doesn't matter what Vlad Putin thinks of Sarah Palin. If McCain DOES win on Nov 4, well... I guess we'll find out how quick a study the Sarah Barracuda really is.

There's a lot of elitism in the air here, too. Little Miss Alaska Runner-Up, with her little journalism degree from Idaho, is up against Mr. Harvard Law Review (who never wrote a law review article) and his running mate, the guy who graduated in the bottom of his class from Syracuse. Yet she lacks.... "experience."

Well, sonny, don't discount what Sarah knows about key issues like energy & the environment. She went toe-to-toe with Exxon over the Northern Pipeline (a/k/a Trans Canada), and Exxon came out with the bloody nose -- out in the cold, and that means something in a place like Alaska. Really, it's a $30 billion project that the Old Boys of ALaska could not put together for 20 years. And Palin scored it within 18 months.

Meanwhile, she's kicking Exxon's butt over the slow development of Thompson Point, a major "wet gas" project that she wants to take back from the Tiger due to non-compliance with the lease terms.

Obama and Biden talk a good game of demagoging the oil companies. Sarah has actually gone into the ring with them.

To Arctic Fox- James King is right..She will galvanize the 30-35% of Americans who call themselves liberal, 35% wow big numbers there. I'm already shaking with fear. I guess all hope is lost-gloom, dispare and agony on me.

LOL. Sarah Palin can cook. She can clean. She can fish. She can hunt. She can play point guard. She can balance the state budget. She took on the old boy network. She faced down the oil industry in a state where they are the industry. She sold the state jet and flies commercial. She drives herself to work every day. She's nursing a baby while sending a son to go fight in Iraq. She's giving a 1200 dollar oil dividend to her state citizens. She even looks hot in a suit!

You Dems are in BIG trouble. Looks like old McCain has picked Wonder Woman for the job.

deep blue is applying for the job as morality police chief of the world if Obama gets elected, only "he" has the purity to judge the rest of the world. And tell us how we should react. How does ol' dip blue feel about women, minorities and jews? We don't need your kind of hate and bigotry

Palin is an oil hog. With this choice it is clear that McCain has no intention of achieving all electricity produced by renewables in ten years. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

She is a typical Republican who believes that, "My MORAL AUTHORITY gives me the right to control your private life."

The point of experience is simple: . .
1) McCain told us that experience was sooo important.
2) McCain then chooses a VP who has less experience than Obama. Let's face it, Wassilla was run by the city planner not by the mayor. That's the way it is in those small Alaskian towns. The mayor has one vote in the assembly and is a ribbon cutter. Palin's real experience was as Governor of a state whose population is more than 2 million less than Chicago. But 16 months as Alaskian Governor does not prepare you like three years in the U.S. Senate. But still there's no question that both are very short on experience.
3) THE BIGGEST QUESTION is really: . . Why was McCain talking to us Americans out of both sides of his mouth??!

McCain tried to check too many boxes with this pick. He is trying to get independents, conservatives, women, and slow down the Dems after last week.

I think he was succesful in slowing down the Dems but missed on the others.

She is too perfect. The MSM and the blogosphere is digging into this womens entire life and something will come up.

The fact that she has decided too run at the time she is nursing a child raises questions for me about what she values. Not saying a women cant hold office and be a mother but why would she want to pursue a national campaign at this time?

In a time when our ability to be innovative and creative is essential to our global survival, when our baby-boomer generation is facing increasing health concerns, when research funding has been stagnant and even contracted during the past administration-
I am a scientist and i can not decide whether to laugh or cry at the idea that so many people cannot think logically, rationally, and reasonably- creationism, global warming...please people- this is our kids future- i was uninterested/undecided before. this does it. B Obama 08.

i shouldn't waste my time but...she cooks, she clean, she works, she has children, she nurses, her children have needs-special and otherwise...sorry, but that fits the description of almost every woman i know.

At first I thought that McCain had finally lost all his marbles,in picking a rank amateur with no national experience. After doing a little research, however, and after watching Maria Bartiromo's interview with the new Governor of Alaska, it is apparent to me that the old man did not make this choice after all.

The choice was made for him by the same people that brought us George Bush and Dick Cheney- None other than the people who brought us the war in Iraq. Big oil.

The whole Bartiromo/Palin interview is propaganda for big oil. and drilling in the Anwr. She is simply a shill for the big oil companies posing as a hockey mom. Her husband has worked for British Petroleum for over 20 years, and she was put into office to carry out their policies.

Drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge is environmenatally courting disaster, and it simply won't lower the price of oil.

It is extremely costly to drill this way, and to have the oil travel thousands of miles through a pipeline that must be heated and constantly monitored is expensive and dangerous. It can never be cost competitive over sources in the middle east which can pump their oil at a fraction of the cost of either Anwr or offshore. The price of oil indeed is not determined by short term supply and demand as Sarah says, but by the hedge fund speculators and the obscene profits that the majors have decided that they can get away with in Bush's last days in office.

When Bush started the war in Iraq the price was $1.75 per gallon. Iraq was pumping over 3,000,000 gallons a day and selling it outside the OPEC cartel. When we invaded, it took the cheap oil off the market allowing OPEC to raise the price. It was indeed a war about the control of oil- not about WMD's, freedom, or the security of America.

Palin uses all the oil trade slang like "oil hungry," to make the case for her persistent call for expanded drilling. Has she forgotten what the Exxon Valdez did to the Native American fishermen? It will happen again.

Big oil made Bush governor of Texas, then President of the United States. Now it is trying to put McSame and Palin in office to carry out their business for them.

It is not about electing a woman, it is simply about electing people friendly to the oil cartels.

Palin changes nothing. McCain changes nothing. There will be a Democratic landslide regardless.

Tightfisted Republicans can take solace in the fact that they had eight years and squandered everything. When we had a chance to pay down our national debt, the Republican majority decided to transfer our surplus into the hands of its shareholders with a tax rebate and tax break. It was blatantly irresponsible.

When 9/11 happened, George W. Bush took this as a photo opportunity, Carl Rove packaged it and Bush/Cheney/Powell/Rumsfield/Ashcroft intentionally sold a lie that has cost us 4,000 more lives (I personally lost thirteen friends, business associates and acquaintances that sorrowful day), 4,000 broken and/or hurting families (regardless of the pride in their family member's service), 100,000 dead humans in Iraq, ZERO increase in petroleum (until Exxon Mobile starts getting their share soon), a criminally culpable executive branch that has spied on its own citizens with no results, abandoned the Geneva Convention - thereby lowering our moral standards and exposing our soldiers to torture when captured, given Haliberton and others billions of our dollars, squandered our competitive edge, maligned our reputation in the world, exposed us to more serious threats by stretching our forces too thin, given seven media giants complete control over what we hear, see and read (thankfully we have the internet), and is now going to bail out non-FDIC-insured investment banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with more of our (and Goldman Sack's and Morgan Stanley's money; and we are very close to loosing Citibank, Lehman Brothers, and another half-dozen of our key banking institutions. Deregulation, the mantra of Republicans, is killing everything. No -- regulating everything is not what I'm advocating here... but giving the fox the keys to the chicken coop is downright stupid. A child can see that. But apparently, greed blinds.

Contrary to most of the bloggers here, I'm fortunate to personally know a few of America's biggest Fortune 100 corporate executives in America. Many have dined at my home or I at their home...and I've listened and spoken to CEO's, Chairmen/women, CFO's, COO's and the like. Each and everyone of them is terrified of what this administration has done, what a McCain administration would do, and what the immediate future looks like.

Without question, a partisan Republican who can't understand the fleecing we've been given it dumb enough to vote for John McCain - and will suffer mightily if successful. Your blind loyalty is your curse. You can resent my saying so, but it doesn't make me wrong.

I'm female and McCain's choice of Pallin is not going to convince me to bat for the Red team. For one, she basically stands for everything that most women I know stand against, creationism, strong anti-abortionism, drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife PRESERVE?

She wants to take Polar Bears off the endangered species list because they stand in the way of her drilling for oil? Talk about thinking the wrong way. What we need isn't destroying more of our environment trying to find more oil, instead, America needs to develop alternate sources of energy, not continue to rely on non-renewable sources of energy like petroleum.

In the video where McCain introduces Pallin as his running mate, he looks shaky, and dare I mention it? OLD. While I'm glad that Pallin isn't a Washington shark like Carl Rove, or a member of the ol' boys club like Dick Chaney, I don't think she's any better suited than those two to be VP, or god-forbid, should something happen to McCain while in Office, President of the United States. I'd really fear for the nation then.

With this Presidential race, given how old McCain is, I'm probably not the only one thinking, Obama or Pallin? Obama or Pallin?

This will be my first time voting in a national presidential election, and can I just say, thank god I'm over 18 and can vote?

I don't know what to think about the choice of Palin. It's a real stunner of an announcement- I'll say that. But it strikes me as a Harriet Meyrs-like pick. Even I'd heard about the fire-the-sister's-ex controversy before this choice. Does McCain think that's just going to go away? With our controversy-loving media and blogosphere? What about Hutchinson of Texas or Dole of NC? Wouldn't either be a better (safer) choice? I guess those who say 'it really doesn't matter who the VP is, people vote for the first name on the ticket' will be proven correct by Gov. Palin. It's difficult to take this selection seriously.

In the game of political one-upmanship, McCain's move was brilliant -- witness the media and blogging firestorm -- but its effect on that score will be temporary, and once Palin is vetted by the voters, her choice will prove to have been akin to "you're doing a heckuva job Brownie."

This was a lousy choice. It shows that Mccain does not put country first but politics first. He only met with the woman one time before selecting her. Do we want a president that shoots from the hip or a president that makes good sound decisions? The choice is clear. Obama/Biden 08.

Remember Bush was supposed to be an outsider, a cowboy! He even bought a ranch to seem more of a "maverick" from the West. He was supposed to be a Christian conservative--a compassionate one at that. But, eight years later.....
We need change and that doesn't mean changing from wearing a suit to wearing a dress. I only care about one thing--are McCain/Palin on the republican ticket? If so, then it looks like more Bush.

Palin is Dan Quayle in drag. This was a ludicrous choice. The women who supported Hillary should be insulted that McCain thought he could attract them with Palin. The only thing she has in common with us is plumbing. She is anti-choice, and anti-equal pay. She wants to drill in Anwar, and she doesn't want the polar bear to be listed as an endangered species. Plus, unlike most Republicans who get into trouble AFTER they reach national office, she is ALREADY under investigation for ethics lapses. Oh, good work, McCain. What a LOSER!

I find it ugly and offensive that a party and candidate that has railed for a generation against affirmative action -- which they define as employing the lesser qualified over the better qualified on racial or gender terms -- would rally behind a VP choice who's only qualification is her sex. If this had occured in any other business or situation, those employees passed over for this job would have serious grounds for a law suit. But what can you expect from a party that defines the word hypocrcy?

I am surprised to always hear people bring up that he should have picked Hillary the reality is that if he would have picked her, because of the dislike of the Clintons by the Republican Party it would have started a republican fire like never seen. It would have been like shouting yourself in the foot. The republicans would have came out in force just because of the Clintons. That is also why the republicans wanted Hillary to win.

If Palin is really not a threat, why did the Obama camp initially come out with guns blazing, in an effort to shoot her down...

Perhaps they are truly afraid they have angered women by shunning Hillary. It is true that Sarah is no Hillary, but Obama is the one who refused to put a woman on the ticket.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...

If Palin is really not a threat, why did the Obama camp initially come out with guns blazing, in an effort to shoot her down..."

Yeah, that's right... it has nothing to do with the fact that she has no national or international experience. Yes, indeed, we are terrified that a "hockey mom" is in line to be the second most powerful person on the planet. Gee, what are we thinking? Maybe her journalism degree from the prestigious University of Idaho has prepared her to deal with world issues. So a Senator with experience on the national and international stage isn't ready for leadership but the gubner of BFE is?

Sometimes you can have a very likable person and you put them in a political situation and they just become a political hack. Too much politics is bad for anyone's personality and independence including independence of thought.

The state of Alaska, like the kingdom Saudi Arabia (although on a far smaller scale) is an oil state. 80% of its economy is based on oil and gas profits, some of which are distributed as dividends to residents. It has no significant industry or agriculture, nor does it have any large cities. Its only major policy issues involve energy and the environment, on which Palin at least has clear positions: global warming is "not caused by human activity"; salmon, polar bears, wolves, and other wildlife are expendable, as are wildlife areas. On energy, extract all mineral resources, reap the wealth, then let your kids and grandkids suffer the consequences. A New York city council member would deal with more complex and multifaceted issues than Palin has faced as governor of Alaska.

While we are talking women's rights, let's remember that basically the Republican party doesn't think women should have any. Equal pay? Not. Right to choose your own health care? Not. Insurance for your children? Not.
And on and on. And these 2 Republicans are the same.

good points all. and congratulations: one of the few who hasn't been smugly sneering at Palin with the same smug sneering condescending tone most of your colleagues and almost all the bloviati of the tv-punditubery used toward Hillary. and the same tone they and the democrap elites are now using toward Palin. Never heard that tone of condescension and snobbery used toward ANY of the male candidates (Pawlenty, et al).

You can surely tell them: It's still the media bias and sexism, stupid.
http://www.WoMenBoycottMSNBC.com
They continue their obamaton and phallic worship at their peril.